The facility will be used for laboratory studies of breathing experiments and development of medical treatments. The micro-device includes within it cellular layers that are stacked one above the other in a vertical layout and which mimic the structure of the mucous tissue that includes the airways in the lungs.
![Lung-on-a-chip mimics the microstructures of tissues with multiple airways. In this image, colorants flow in three different vertical paths separated from each other by transparent membranes (shown by the dashed rectangle). [Courtesy: RTI International]](https://www.hayadan.org.il/images/content3/2014/08/lung-on-chip_highres800--500x375.jpg)
Scientists have succeeded in developing an innovative micro-device of the lung-on-a-chip type that could be used for laboratory studies of breathing experiments and development of medical treatments. The micro-device includes within it cellular layers that are stacked one above the other in a vertical layout and which mimic the structure of the mucous tissue that includes the airways in the lungs. The cellular model of the lining of the airways will be able to provide insights into the biological and physiological effects that cell cultures and conventional models do not provide, and will help in the development of new treatments.
Scientists from the RTI International Research Institute in North Carolina, in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have developed an innovative lung-on-a-chip microdevice for laboratory research of breathing experiments and development of medical treatments. The research findings have long been published in the scientific journal Lab on a Chip. "The development of this microfluidic lung model, as well as of other organs-on-chips, holds the promise of improving the physiological relevance of cellular models in order to obtain a more accurate prediction of the effects that toxic substances and drugs have on humans, and to reduce the use of h in medical and pharmaceutical research," said Sonia Grego, the project's principal investigator. The cellular model of a mucosa with airways will be able to provide insights into the biological and physiological effects that cell cultures and conventional models do not provide, and will help in the development of new treatments.
The researchers harnessed the methods of micro-production and micro-flow in order to develop a system with three flow micro-components stacked on top of each other in a vertical layout and separated by nanoporous membranes. The researchers showed that the facility was able to support stable cultures of sensitive and physiologically representative primary cells, instead of using the more common cell lines. The engineered cell culture makes it possible to examine the interrelationships between three types of cells of the airways and to examine their physiological indices - which effectively becomes an "organ-on-a-chip".
"The microfluidic cell cultures replicate the functions of tissues that include airways such as those that secrete mucus and function as barriers to the entry of various molecules," the researchers explain. "These properties are critical for testing the toxicity of substances by inhalation and in the field of drug research." The airways of various tissues and organs are involved in important diseases such as shortness of breath (asthma) and various lung diseases.
